Page 31 of Blood Bought

“Then have your burritos alone in my room. No public burritos.”

My stomach flipped. The sheer possession coming off of him as he caged me against the door was simultaneously infuriating and so hot that my knees were weak. “I inhaled that thing, Alaris. Won’t have enough to share with Sloane.”

“She doesn’t stay in my room unless I summon her,” he replied, still so close to me I could smell him. “One word and she’s gone, Sweets.”

Whatever this was, I wasn’t ready yet. Getting closer, maybe... but too much had happened that I couldn’t ignore, no matter how badly I wanted him to just kiss me. “Not yet, Alaris. You’ve still got some work to put in.”

Chapter Fourteen:

My day with Renzo andKellian had me feeling lighter. Kellian hadn’t been wrong, despite eating a normal amount for me, having that extra bit of food gave me more energy and made me feel more focused – and I couldn’t deny that having an explanation as to why they hadn’t outright executed Ciro for being so cruel helped.

And... maybe that thing with Alaris was nice, too.

As Nesrin bathed me and helped me shave, I got dressed and did my own makeup for once. For better or worse, I was settling in – to the castle, to my role, to seeing Alaris with Sloane on his arm every fucking time I left my room. Though that particular sight was eliciting more jealousy in my gut by the day, I was at least happy we weren’t fighting anymore and he hadn’t thrown me back in the cell yet.

Baby steps.

“How’s Elenor doing?” I asked. “She adjusting okay?”

Nesrin nodded, tugging my hair back to tighten the braid she was doing. “Yes. She loves it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this happy.”

“That’s lucky. Really could’ve gone either way. Eternal life is one hell of a decision to make for someone.”

“Heir Alaris didn’t make it for her,” she said. “Bloodwhores have to decide before they let someone feed from them what they’d want in the event that they accidentally die. They can choose to be done or to be turned. Heir Alaris knew that Elenor wanted to be turned if she died, so it was something that would’ve happened eventually either way. She’s happy that it happened now when her body is still young.”

“Ahh.” I fell into silence as I watched her work in that mirror, but after a few minutes, I couldn’t stuff down the questions I had anymore. “So Fauxs keep the exact same body they were turned in, right? Like they never age or anything, they keep the scars and birthmarks and tattoos... but what’s the deal with Obsidian vampires? The Alphas are all older physically than I expected them to be.”

Nesrin tilted her head slightly and I knew she was asking permission to tell me. “Obsidian vampires do age, just at a markedly slower rate than humans. A thousand years to them is like a hundred to us. They’re extremely hard to kill, but they will eventually die of old age. They’re born and die just like everyone else.”

“So the Heirs... they’re young by Obsidian standards?”

She froze, then clamped her jaw shut without answering me.

“Nesrin?”

She shook her head almost violently and pulled my hair a little harder, making me cry out quietly.

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